


The Five Pieces Of Eight Job

by Tygermama



Category: Leverage
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-06-26
Updated: 2010-06-26
Packaged: 2017-10-10 07:11:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/97046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tygermama/pseuds/Tygermama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eliot and Sophie decide to test the team's new waters with a simple little job to save a plantation from an unscrupulous developer</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Five Pieces Of Eight Job (1/3)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [scintilla10](https://archiveofourown.org/users/scintilla10/gifts).



> Written for the [](http://community.livejournal.com/leveragexchange/profile)[**leveragexchange**](http://community.livejournal.com/leveragexchange/) and [](http://scintilla10.livejournal.com/profile)[**scintilla10**](http://scintilla10.livejournal.com/), who gave me five great prompts that I managed to squeeze into this fic. I hope she enjoys it as much as I liked writing it.

  
**Title:** The Five Pieces Of Eight Job (1/3)  
**Author:** [](http://tygermama.livejournal.com/profile)[**tygermama**](http://tygermama.livejournal.com/)  
**Beta:** [](http://winks7985.livejournal.com/profile)[**winks7985**](http://winks7985.livejournal.com/)  
**Giftee"** [](http://scintilla10.livejournal.com/profile)[**scintilla10**](http://scintilla10.livejournal.com/)  
**Word Count:** Part One: 2,400, [Part Two: 3,957](http://tygermama.livejournal.com/101755.html), [Part Three: 3,617](http://tygermama.livejournal.com/102119.html)  
**Rating:** PG, gen  
**Pairing:** none, there's some shippy hints and a little teasing, but no overt pairings  
**Warnings:** umm, abuse of the word "ARRR!" and mentions of lesbian pirates?  
**Spoilers:** none, if you've seen the season two finale, this fic is set after the finale but before the season three premiere  
**Summary:** Eliot and Sophie decide to test the team's new waters with a simple little job to save a plantation from an unscrupulous developer  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the intellectual properties used herein and am not making a profit.  
**Author's Notes:** Written for the [](http://community.livejournal.com/leveragexchange/profile)[**leveragexchange**](http://community.livejournal.com/leveragexchange/) and [](http://scintilla10.livejournal.com/profile)[**scintilla10**](http://scintilla10.livejournal.com/), who gave me five great prompts that I managed to squeeze into this fic. I hope she enjoys it as much as I liked writing it.

I want to thank [](http://winks7985.livejournal.com/profile)[**winks7985**](http://winks7985.livejournal.com/) for the beta and encouraging words, [](http://havocthecat.livejournal.com/profile)[**havocthecat**](http://havocthecat.livejournal.com/) for her cheerleading and our mod, [](http://fleurlb.livejournal.com/profile)[**fleurlb**](http://fleurlb.livejournal.com/) who graciously granted me an extension.

To the people of Galveston. I'm fairly certain I have done a few disservices to your fine community. I sincerely apologize and if I'm ever in the area, I would be happy to buy you a drink to make up for it.

A word on the legend in the story. I made it up. The lady pirates are loosely based on Anne Bonny and Mary Read. I changed the names to protect the infamous.

  
Eliot Spencer stretched out his legs on the seat of the booth in one of his favorite greasy-spoon diners.

He took a sip of his coffee and opened the first of his newspapers. He habitually read papers from all over, keeping up with current events, critically analyzing editorials for shifts in opinion, and reading the personals for coded messages and the laughs. First up this morning, "The Galveston County Daily News".

Buried on page six was an article that made him scowl. "Local Landmark Under Threat Of Foreclosure." He threw a twenty on the table to cover his bill and left, leaving his papers behind.

*** *** ***

Sophie Devereaux had not expected Eliot at this time of day. It wasn't even seven o'clock yet, so she was still mussed and bleary from bed when she opened the door and blurted out the first thing that occurred to her.

"Oh, my god! Is everyone alright? Parker? Did she hurt herself?" She moved to the side to let Eliot in, two shopping bags in his hands.

"No, Sophie. Everyone's fine. Sorry I scared you. I think I may have found us a case and wanted to run it by you right away. It's time sensitive; we'll need to get going on this as soon as possible." Eliot said as he went into the kitchen.

"You woke me up for this? Eliot…" Sophie narrowed her eyes.

Eliot turned around, held up a jar of Devon cream and smirked, "I'll make you tea and fresh scones while you shower."

Sophie smiled, shook her head and headed for the shower. "You do know how to tempt a woman, don't you, Spencer?"

Eliot smiled as he pulled out a mixing bowl for scones.

"My favorite tea is in the canister on the counter," she called out as she shut the bathroom door.

*** *** ***

"Okay, let me see if I have this right? You want us to save the Gatineau plantation from this developer, Mark Rucks. Who's the client?" Sophie asked, delicately spreading strawberry jam on her scone.

Eliot finished the last of the dishes and shrugged, "The client is… the common good, historical interest and the desire not to see anymore of those overpriced, faux Mediterranean condos blighting the landscape?"

Sophie put her scone down and looked at Eliot appraisingly. "This is personal, isn't it?"

Eliot smiled faintly, "Yeah. Umm, it's stupid. I've been there. I have good memories of this place. I don't want to see it turned into a convention center and a bunch of fast food joints or something. The plantation is an important part of local history and it employs a lot of people. It deserves to be protected."

Sophie watched Eliot as he paced around her kitchen, twisting the tea towel in his hands. He was nervous, off-balance. They all were. Nate was in prison and they were still trying to figure out how to work without him.

Eliot especially was not used to _asking_ for anything, much less outlining all the reasons why the team should get involved in saving this plantation. Usually, if he wanted something done, he just went and did it. Convincing, persuading the others wasn't something he was used to yet.

Sophie got up and took the towel out of his hands, "I think this could be the perfect job for us right now. Something small and simple, so we can get used to… How things at the moment." Sophie shook out the towel and hung it over the oven handle.

Sophie heard Eliot softly exhale behind her. "I'll call Hardison, get him researching the situation. See if there's an in we can use." Eliot said, sitting down and pouring himself a cup of tea.

Sophie smiled fondly at him. "Since I'm up, do you want any milk?"

Eliot looked up at her, aghast, "Milk? _In Earl Grey?"_

*** *** ***

Hardison looked up from his computer briefly when Eliot and Sophie walked into Nate's apartment that afternoon. "About time you two showed up. I got started on the research you wanted. This Rucks guy is dirty. He hasn't been caught, but he's definitely dirty. Has a history of buying up 'distressed properties', but it seems some of those properties weren't all that distressed before Rucks took an interest in them. I'm still nailing down all the details."

Eliot sat down on the couch and watched as Hardison pulled up pictures, newspaper articles and the Rucks Developments website on the bank of video screens. "Where's Parker?" he asked, looking around.

"She said she'd be by soon. I'm still putting the presentation together. The Gatineau Plantation has a pretty decent website. History, reservations, event planning… Did you know that a couple of years ago, after the hurricane, they started growing organic produce and have their own farmer's market? Made me hungry just looking at it." Hardison said absent-mindedly, still bringing up more data.

"About time you got more vegetables in your diet, Hardison," Eliot muttered as he got up to grab a beer.

Hardison didn't look up from his laptop, "What are you talking about? 'My diet'?"

Sophie shook her head as she put the kettle on, "Why don't you tell me about the plantation while we wait for Parker, Hardison?"

"Okay, okay. Here it is. The lovely city of Galveston, or what would become Galveston, was first settled in 1816 by a pirate named Louis-Michel Aury…"

"Pirates? Nobody said anything about pirates. I would have gotten here sooner. I love pirates." Parker said as she dropped from somewhere in the ceiling.

Eliot just glared at her as he sat down and finished swallowing his beer. "Should have known you'd be a pirate freak." He muttered.

Parker just huffed as she sat down beside him and whispered, "Arrr."

"Huh, suddenly it all makes sense," Hardison said, smiling widely. "It's no wonder you two don't get along. You're natural enemies! Ninja versus Pirate, right here in our living room!"

"I am not a ninja, Hardison!" Eliot said, frowning.

Parker snorted, "Of course you'd say that. Everyone knows ninjas are shrouded in secrecy and never admit what they are. Can you do a ninja vanish with the smoke? Will you show me how to throw shuriken?"

"More importantly, do you know the Turtles?" Hardison said solemnly, leaning forward in his chair, hands clasped, "It's okay. You can tell us."

"Oh, right. What the hell do turtles have to do with ninjas? Don't tell me!" Eliot pointed at Hardison, practically punching the air. He turned to Parker and nudged her with the hand holding the beer bottle, "And you're just going to sit there and say you're a pirate, Parker?"

Parker crossed her arms and assumed a lofty expression, "Yes. I take what I want and give nothing back." She leaned toward Eliot and squinted at him, "Arrrrr!"

Sophie stifled a giggle at Eliot's affronted expression, "Children! Please! Let's get back on task, shall we?"

Hardison cleared his throat as he began again, "Okay, so in 1817, Aury came home to find that his colony had been occupied by Jean Lafitte…"

"Skip ahead, Hardison." Eliot said.

"Oh, fine. Well, Galveston became the capital of the Republic of Texas in 1836. A dude named Michel Branamour Menard and some 'associates' bought 4,605 acres of land to found the town that would become modern day Galveston."

Hardison pushed a button and the view centered on an ornate stone building with a red tiled roof. "Phillipe Gatineau was one of Menard's buddies. He later bought up a chunk of land down the coast and started his plantation. This here's the main house. Nice, huh?"

"Are there going to be any more pirates in this story?" Parker asked, shifting impatiently.

"Yes, now hush." Hardison said, "Now, the plantation has always had an 'interesting' history. Piracy, smuggling, stuff like that. There were even rumors that the plantation was a high-end house of prostitution for a while, but all the shenanigans ended in '57, when the Texas Rangers moved in to clean up the area. The current owner is a Lily Gatineau. She runs the plantation and plays in poker tournaments. Pretty good at it too. The plantation ran into some hard times after Hurricane Ike hit and she's been supporting it with her winnings."

Hardison pulled up a picture of a dark haired, smiling woman holding up a large cheque for $15,000 from the World Series of Poker.

"Now, Lily has been trying to get the plantation on the National Register of Historic Places but it's been slow going. Then Rucks showed up. Then the nomination process comes to a standstill, her bank starts making noises about calling in the loans on the property and you know the drill."

"What does Rucks want this plantation for? Surely there are other distressed properties he could buy up without all the fuss?" Sophie asked, sitting down with her mug.

"He has been buying up everything he can get his hands on." Hardison replied. The screens changed again, showing a man about Eliot's height, with blond hair and a wide smile in a professionally posed 'casual' shot on a beach.

"Ick." Parker said, shuddering, "Dentally perfect people creep me out."

Eliot looked like he was going to argue with her but then shrugged thoughtfully and said, "Can't argue with that. Okay, is there anything about Rucks we can use?"

"Yes, I think so. From what I've dug up, he's strapped for cash. The economic crunch hit him too and he's desperate for liquid assets. All the poor boy has on hand is about $20 for lattes. And the reason he's been so free with his hard earned benjamins is because of _this_."

Hardison punched a series of keys with a flourish and the screens changed again, showing black and white legal documents. "You have no idea how hard it was to find these. The local government buried them deep. I guess they figure there would be a public protest or something if word got out too soon."

Everyone stared at Hardison.

"What? Can't you all read? They are proposing building a new cruise ship terminal at the other end of the island! Right about where the plantation is! It's got the largest amount of coastline of any property in the area! Rucks has bought up all the property surrounding the Gatineau, but he still needs this particular piece of property, or he's got nothing."

Eliot frowned, "A new cruise ship terminal would mean millions in construction, no wonder Rucks wants the place so bad."

Parker made a disgusted noise, "I thought you said this story had more pirates in it."

"There's a legend that there's pirate treasure buried somewhere on the property. Phillipe apparently caught some Spanish pirates on his land. Two of them were women." Hardison said, waggling his eyebrows.

Parker looked vaguely impressed, "I didn't know there were lady pirates. What did they steal?"

"Legend doesn't say. What it does say is that Phillipe fell in love with one of the lady pirates, Jacquotte Alvarez, and offered to save her from being hung." Hardison said.

Eliot snorted, "Provided she told him where the treasure was, right?"

Hardison laughed, "Well, yeah. But the _real_ interesting part was that she turned him down stone cold. Turns out, she was in love with one of the other pirates and wasn't going to turn on her. Grace du Berry, I think her name was. According to the legend anyways."

"Wait, wait! Turn on _her_? Are you saying this is a legend about lesbian pirates?" Eliot was leaning forward, an incredulous smile on his face.

"I thought you didn't like lesbians," Parker asked, "You know, after the thing with your face."

Eliot stared at Parker, mouth opening and closing but no sound coming out. Sophie laughed. Hardison wisely turned back to the computer and bit his lip.

"Alright, this is all very amusing but I fail to see how this is going to help us save the plantation. All we have so far is that Rucks needs cash." Sophie said, setting down her mug and resting her chin on her hand.

"So was the treasure ever found? I've never found pirate treasure before!" Parker asked, eagerly bouncing.

Hardison shook his head, "No. From what I've found experts aren't even sure there is a treasure to begin with. But the plantation does hold an annual gay pride day, in their honour or something."

"That's our in." Eliot said, staring off into space. His expression was scarily similar to Nate when he was deep in planning their cons.

"The gay pride day?" Hardison asked skeptically.

Parker frowned, "No, it's the lesbian pirates. Well, it's probably just the lesbians. Eliot's weird about girls."

"No. Well, kinda." Eliot said, still thinking, "It's the treasure."

"The treasure?" Sophie asked.

"Rucks needs cash. Let's see what he's willing to do to get his hands on some pirate gold."  
Eliot said. He smirked and looked at Sophie, "Sophie, darlin', you ever been a treasure hunter?"

Sophie smiled back, "I've always been a treasure hunter of one sort or another."

Eliot nodded, satisfied. "Okay, then. We'll hook this Rucks with a fake treasure hunt and get him to expose himself. Well, you all go home and pack. We have a job to do. Hardison, four tickets to Galveston, please. Call us with the time." Eliot stood up and started to walk out the door. He stopped when he noticed the others staring at him.

"What?" He said.

Parker made a face and shifted uncomfortably, "Well. That's not how you're supposed to say it."

Eliot raised an eyebrow at her.

"What I think Parker is trying to say, is that, you know. You're supposed to say something like 'Let's go steal…'" Hardison trailed off and waved his hand in a 'come on now, you know what to do' gesture.

"Oh!" Eliot said. "I get it. Come on. I think we all know there's only one person who can say stuff like that without sounding like a complete idiot. If I really stood here and said something like… I don't know… "Let's go steal ourselves a planetarium!" would any of you take me seriously?"

Hardison looked at Parker. Parker looked at Sophie. Sophie covered her mouth as she started giggling. The other two soon followed.

Eliot growled under his breath at them. "See! I told you! Know everybody get a move on! We got a job to do!"


	2. The Five Pieces Of Eight Job (2/3)

  
Galveston was hot and muggy and the team was relieved to get into Hardison's air-conditioned hotel room to hash out a few last details before they started in on Rucks.

"I got the IDs set up. Eliot, Sophie, you're married. Congratulations. You're now Taylor and Samantha Morgan. Taylor, you're from Kentucky and Samantha is from South Carolina. You've been married three years now and both of you have archaeology degrees and have been treasure hunting together for four years, according to the website I made and the records I mocked up for you. Any other details are at your discretion." Hardison handed Eliot and Sophie their new paperwork.

"And for Parker…" Hardison said, turning to her.

Parker had her nose buried deep in a book on local history that she bought at the airport. It was entitled "The Pirate History of Galveston".

"Parker!" Hardison said sharply.

"What!" she said, putting her book down.

"Your new identification. Susan Holmes. You're a tourist. I booked you a room here under that name and you've reserved a spot on the plantation tour tomorrow, it's at ten." Hardison handed over the documents and then flopped down onto his bed.

He pulled his laptop onto his chest and started typing. "Now, I've been trying to access the county Land Surveyor's Office records and what I can tell you is that I weep for our future. The records we need aren't in the system; it's all on paper. I'm going to have to go down to the archives and look up what we need. So if you will excuse me, I need to fake up a better identity."

"Okay," Parker said, examining her new identification. "So far the plan is: Eliot and Sophie try to keep Rucks occupied with hunting for fake pirate treasure while Hardison hunts for evidence we can use and I… do what again?"

"You're hunting for pirate treasure. You're gonna anyways so we figured we may as well make it part of the plan," Eliot said, tying his hair back.

"Eliot!" Sophie scolded as she went through her bags, making faces at the utilitarian clothing she was going to be wearing. "Parker, we want you to get a feel for the plantation and see if any of the staff there may be on Rucks' payroll. And then you're going to be doing the usual breaking and entering, planting bugs, things like that. Sport sandals? Really, Eliot, do you truly expect me to wear these ugly things?"

Eliot frowned and said, "They'll show of your slender ankles. Now get changed, will ya? We need to get to the Army Surplus store to buy some camping gear."

"Camping?" Sophie's eyes popped and her voice cracked. "You never said anything about camping!"

"For every day we have to camp, you'll get two in the spa of your choice, alright?" Eliot asked as he pulled a tweed jacket with leather elbow patches out of his pack and put it on over his dress shirt.

Sophie raised her eyebrows as she considered this. "Well. Two days? If I must, for the sake of the job."

Hardison looked up from his work and made a face. "Seriously, dude. Tweed? That's very stereotypical and in this heat, you're gonna die. It will not be pretty."

"What's wrong with tweed? I happen to be very fond of tweed," Sophie asked, pouting slightly.

Hardison looked back and forth between Sophie and Eliot. "Umm, so you picked out Eliot's professor outfit? Well, I must say it's perfect for the role. By playing on people's expectations, you have given them a false sense of security that we can use to our advantage."

Sophie narrowed her eyes. "We'll discuss this later. I have to change." She gathered up her clothes and slammed the bathroom door behind her.

"Seriously, dude. Seriously? Tweed?" Hardison asked, holding up his iPhone and snapping a pic of Eliot. "This is going up on 'RateMyGeek.com'. You'll blow away the competition."

"Hardison, post that picture anywhere…" Eliot growled.

Parker giggled, "He's like a feral version of Henry Higgins. Say 'The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.'"

Both men stared.

"What? I like musicals. I'm allowed to like musicals." Parker said, blushing and looking around uncomfortably. "I'm going to go check in and finish my book." She gathered up her things and started walking toward the door.

Eliot stammered a little as he spoke, "My mom liked that one too. It's a good movie. Ya know, for a chick flick."

Parker beamed at Eliot and then turned and left.

"Dude…" Hardison began.

Eliot cut him off with a gesture, "Shut up. I just… didn't want her moping around on the job, is all. Can't stand that."

"Uh huh," Hardison said, turning back to his computer.

*** *** ***

"Mr. Rucks. Your three o'clock appointment is here."

William Rucks impatiently stood and ran his hand over his hair. "Show them in, Caren."

A couple walked in, the man of middle height and strong build, with long hair tied back in a neat ponytail, and the woman looked like a librarian that took a wrong turn somewhere and found herself in property development office.

"Mr. Rucks, I want to thank you for your time. I'm Dr. Taylor Morgan and this is Professor Morgan, my wife." Morgan came forward, hand outstretched, an earnest and eager expression on his face.

Rucks plastered on a fake smile and shook Eliot's hand. "Doctor, always happy to meet new people. Professor, you must be loveliest lecturer at your university." Rucks raised Sophie's hand and kissed it. She blushed and looked away, playing with the end of her braid.

"You're too kind, Mr. Rucks," Sophie said, with a soft Carolina accent, "But I'm sure you're wondering why we asked for a moment of your time. My husband and I have a sideline, researching treasure stories that come to our attention."

"Oh, really? And I am assuming since you're here that you think there's a treasure somewhere on one of my properties? I have to tell you folks, there are a lot of treasure stories in the Galveston area. I don't really give credence to any of them. I hope we aren't wasting each other's time," Rucks smiled helpfully and shrugged, holding out his hands in a helpless gesture.

Eliot smiled eagerly and dug into his briefcase. "Well, we wouldn't have come all this way without some evidence to back up our claim, Mr. Rucks." He pulled out a folder and set it down on the desk, flipping it open and spreading out the pages.

"We have found documentary evidence in Spain and in Trinidad/Tobago that "El Grito Del Corsario" actually existed, and that in 1838 the ship went down in a storm. It's suspected that some of the hands made it off the ship with the treasure it was carrying. This is a copy of the _Corsario_'s Letter Of Marque from the Spanish crown."

Rucks took the piece of paper from Eliot's hand and read it carefully. "What exactly does this mean for us?"

Sophie took up the thread of the story, "It means we finally substantiated that the _Corsario_ really existed. And that the treasure it was carrying was more than likely real. Hidden somewhere on this island. If the last report the _Corsario_ sent back to Spain is to be believed, the cargo was mostly uncut gems, objets de art, jewelry and some gold doubloons and silver pieces of eight." Sophie leaned in, her voice soft, "In sheer historical value, this treasure is priceless."

"Priceless?" Rucks echoed back, still engrossed in the documents.

"Here," Sophie said, moving to stand by Rucks' side, "Why don't we walk you through our research?"

Rucks was so entranced by the visions Sophie was painting that he didn't even notice Eliot plant a bug under the lip of his desk.

*** *** ***

The minute Eliot and Sophie left Rucks' office, he was on the phone.

"Bearings! I need you to pull the land surveys for The Gatineau and all the other holdings."

Rucks listened for a moment then made a disgusted noise. "Yes, I have my own maps, but I need the official property lines as the county has them recorded. I just got a line on something that is going save my ass… if it's true."

Rucks listened again, then growled into the phone, "Listen! You'll get your goddamn money! Haven't I always come through for you? That's right, I have. And if you want any more money, you better get those land surveys. Not a lot of people are going to hire a State Historic Preservation Officer who's been convicted of taking bribes to ensure sites _don't_ get preserved."

Rucks snapped his phone shut and threw it on the desk. "Moron."

*** *** ***

Parker wasn't as bored as she thought she'd be. The tour actually started with a brunch, so there was food. It was really good food too. Almost as good as Eliot's.

The people weren't that obnoxious either. They were all really nice. It may have been the food putting them in a good mood, or it could have been that most of the tourists there were lesbians who came for the gay pride day and were hitting on her. Parker wasn't sure. She still wasn't great at picking up those kinds of signals, even with Sophie's tutoring. She'd ask Eliot later, he'd know. Or maybe Hardison - he may not know a lot about lesbians but he made hilarious faces.

So far the tour was not what she expected. The staff was friendly and open, talking about the house and its history like it was their own, not like it was something they memorized off a script. They were all engaged in their work and no one so far had given off vibes like they were going to betray the place.

The house itself was beautiful. There were period furnishings in all the public areas and each room was dedicated to a period of the house's history, complete with displays detailing the life and times of that era.

The only thing that upset Parker so far was how little security the Gatineau had. It was completely substandard really. Parker thought about writing them a letter with all her suggestions. Sophie said you should write people letters after you go visiting or when they do something nice for you.

"And here is our collection of artifacts relating to the Jacquotte and Grace legend." The docent's words drew Parker's attention back to her surroundings.

The room they were in was just off the main one, which was dedicated to Phillipe Gatineau and the founding of the plantation. This one was all about the legend. There weren't that many artifacts or documents on display. It was mostly artist's renderings and stuff about the history of women in piracy and lesbianism in the 1800's.

But there was one artifact that Parker couldn't stop staring at.

It was an embroidered handkerchief, with a pattern of vines and flowers on it. The work wasn't very good and the fabric was yellow with age, but there was something about it that fascinated Parker.

"Oh, you found Jackie's hankie! It's my favorite piece. There some disagreement amongst experts and the staff here about who really made it. Even though I'm a Team Jackie member myself, I think it was Grace who did the embroidery here," the docent, whose name tag read "Sarah", said.

"Team Jackie?" Parker asked.

"Oh, sorry. Hee. That refers to which one of our pirates people like more. I'm on Team Jackie. I know all about Jacquotte's early life and how she became a pirate. She was the daughter of a landed noble in Spain, did you know that? She would have been trained in needlework, so I think there's no way she would turn out a piece so poorly made. I think it's more likely that she had been teaching Grace and Grace made this. See how uneven the stitches in the chain stitch are? It's a small thing, but it's convinced a lot of others."

Parker squinted through the glass and nodded in agreement, "That's some of the most uneven chain I've ever seen. So you think Jackie was teaching Grace to stitch?"

Sarah grinned, warming up to her subject. "Well, from what evidence we have of Grace's life, she spent most of her childhood pretending to be a boy. I doubt she was taught to embroider."

Parker's eyebrows flew up. "Why did she do that? I though old time people frowned on stuff like that."

Sarah nodded in agreement. "Well, they did. But Grace's mother needed money from her dead husband's family and they weren't going to support a girl, so Grace became George. She was even in the army for a while. That's how she and Jackie met. Grace's ship was captured and she was given the choice to join or die. The rest is history."

"Cool," Parker said, furiously trying to remember how to get out of small talk gracefully. "Thank you for telling me."

Sarah smiled and patted Parker on the arm, "Always happy to talk about the girls. Excuse me please; I think someone over there has a question. If you have anything else you want to ask, just give a holler."

Parker watched her walk away briefly before turning back to the case. She stared some more at the handkerchief, eyes following the trail of vines obsessively.

Then she remembered the maps Hardison had shown them of the Gatineau property and the coastline. The line of the vines followed the coast almost exactly. The uneven stitches making perfect sense when you knew whoever made it was trying to outline the coast as accurately as possible.

Parker squeaked a little in surprise and delight as she memorized every curve. Then she noticed one of the flowers wasn't like the others. Most of the flowers were clumsy attempts at real species, daisies, pansies, magnolias, but one of them was stylized and unrealistic.

It was a compass rose. The arms of the compass were aligned in an 'X'.

It took everything Parker had not to start jumping up and down and squeeing right there. She contented herself with whispering "Arrr" under her breath.

Eliot's voice came through her earbud, "Parker? Do I even want to know why you just said that?"

*** *** ***

Richard Bearings was not a creature meant to live in a subtropical climate. He was painfully pale and couldn't tan to save his life, especially the top of his bald head. He was also chubby and prone to sweating buckets, which tended to stain all his clothes.

He was the epitome of the grumpy civil servant.

And now he was about to enter the domain of his arch-nemesis. Tell one off-colour joke and there's always some stuck up…

"Dick, fancy seeing you here."

Bearings turned around to glare at the blond woman behind the counter.

"Callie. I didn't come here to argue with you, I just need to get into the stacks and find some survey records," Richard said, drawing himself to his full height and glaring at the woman in front of him.

Callie Reynolds just rolled her eyes. "You know damn well you're not allowed in here. Give me a list of the records you want and I'll have copies sent over to your office."

"I don't see what the problem is. Hamilton used to let people in the stacks all the time. Things went faster then. And, please, call me Richard," Bearings said from between clenched teeth.

Callie set her clipboard down with a snap, "That would be because Hamilton was a stupid old fart who didn't give a damn about his job and took bribes, Dick. I'm the head of the records department now and I follow the rules. No unauthorized personnel allowed in the stacks. It took me over a year to go through all the records and fix what had been altered and replace what had been taken. Do you have a list of what you need?"

Richard handed over a damp piece of paper without bothering to disguise his anger.

Callie took it between thumb and forefinger and dropped it on the counter before wiping her hand on her skirt. She unfolded the paper with the eraser of her pencil. "Looks like quite a haul, Dick. I'll have the records sent over to the Preservation Office. Or would you prefer that they be sent to Rucks' office?" Callie's smile was pure poison.

"My association with William Rucks is purely professional. There is no need for you to be insinuating anything!"

Bearings left in a huff, almost knocking down Hardison as he entered the records office.

"Whoa there! You okay, man?" Hardison asked, grabbing the doorframe to steady himself.

"Get out of my road!" Bearings growled, not bothering to stop.

"You'll have to excuse ol'Dick there. Seems like the doc slapped him the day he was born and he never got over the outrage of it all," Callie said, still poking the damn paper.

"I'll take you at your word, Miss…?" Hardison said, holding out his hand and smiling.

"Callie Reynolds. How can I help you?" Callie said, shaking Hardison's hand.

"I need the land line surveys for these properties, please," Hardison said, handing over a very dry, crisp piece of paper.

Callie set Hardison's list down next to Bearings. Her eyebrows rose. She looked up at Hardison, her expression suspicious. "Well, it seems you are interested in the same properties that our illustrious Preservation Officer wants the records for. What did you say your name was, young man?"

"That was the State Historic Preservation Officer? He seems…" Hardison was caught flat footed for a second, then Sophie's voice sounded in his ear. "We have a recording of Rucks talking to this Bearings fellow after we left the office. It's been pretty well established that Bearings is dirty too. Use it."

"I… Well, Callie. I may call you 'Callie' right?" Hardison hedged as he figured out his story.

"And keep it simple, Hardison. No accents," Sophie said.

"Truth is, I'm Agent Alec Thomas, FBI, but this isn't my case. I know Rucks is up to something and the man has a long history of dishonest dealings but we haven't gotten any concrete evidence against him. Yet." Hardison leaned on the counter and briefly looked Callie in the eye, then stammered a little and stared at his hands. "I'm not supposed to be here, truth be told. If my superiors found out, my ass would be grass. Begging your pardon."

Callie stood up straight, deep in thought. "This is about the Gatineau isn't it? It's right in the middle of the other properties."

"I think so, Callie. I haven't done much research yet, but from what I found just in the local papers? There has to be something going on. I don't know much about getting places on the historic protection lists, but the proceedings don't usually come to a halt like this one has, do they?" Hardison looked up at Callie, looking as innocent as he could.

"Excellent, Hardison. You kept it simple, now let her do the rest of the work. Don't know about using your real first name, but not bad for an extemporaneous alias." Sophie's voice was approving.

Callie sighed and blew air up into her bangs. "I have kids, Agent Thomas, you can cut it out with the puppy-dog eyes. But I've known Richard Bearings all his life and this Rucks guy gives me the heebies. So why don't you come back here and we'll see what we can find out, huh?"

Hardison beamed. "The FBI thanks you for your cooperation, Callie!"

*** *** ***

After listening to Hardison talk his way into the city archives, Eliot shook his head and pulled out his earbud, signaling to Sophie to do the same.

"I think we should head back to the hotel," Eliot said as he pulled the rental car out into traffic.

Sophie sighed as she undid her braid. "Well, you'll get no argument from me. But I thought you meant for us to rough it tonight."

Eliot glared as a passing minivan almost cut him off. "Well, I think we should give Rucks some time to check into us, work himself up about the treasure, and I'm worried about Parker. She's been way too quiet. Last thing she's said today was another damn 'Arrr'. That was hours ago. Can't be good."

"No, it is a trifle ominous, isn't it? And I want to see what Hardison comes back with. It should help us refine our plan." Sophie looked thoughtfully out the car window.

"I keep thinking we're missing something. It's very annoying," Sophie said softly.

Eliot sighed, "I think I know _who_ we're missing and even he didn't know everything. We can do this, we just need to be prepared to react to anything that changes our plans. Flexibility is key."

Sophie smiled. "Yes, it is. We have Rucks almost on the hook. We've already found out that Bearings is taking bribes from him to stall the protection proceedings, that won't take Hardison long to find proof. I'm wondering if Bearings is the only one on Rucks payroll, but I'm sure any other players will reveal themselves in time. And Hardison said the fake treasure he ordered should be here today."

"See? I'd say we've got nothing to worry about, but that would just jinx us," Eliot said as he pulled into and open space in the hotel parking lot and killed the engine.

Sophie stretched when she got out of the car and laughed lightly, "I never would have figured you for a superstitious type."

"I'm not," Eliot said, pulling his briefcase out of the back seat. "I just know better than to tempt fate. Soon as someone says 'Nothing can go wrong now', it does."

Sophie saw something out of the corner of her eye and gasped.

"What? What's wrong?" Eliot asked.

"You were right about tempting fate. Look over there," Sophie said, pointing to the hotel's main entrance.

Eliot growled, "What the hell are _they_ doing here?" He pulled his earbud out of his pocket and put it back in. "Hardison, Parker, we have a situation. Wrap up what you're doing and get back to the hotel as soon as you can."

*** *** ***

Hardison got back to the hotel a half hour later, a three document tubes in his hands. Eliot and Sophie were already waiting in his room.

"Man, you would not believe what's been going on in this town!" Hardison started to say.

Eliot cut him off, taking the documents from his hands, "Your FBI buddies are here."

"Whoa. Seriously?" Hardison said. He loosened his tie and sat down on the bed, "Really seriously? Taggart and McSweeten are here? Why the hell are they here?"

Sophie started to spread out the maps, weighing down the corners with coffee cups, "Well, since you're FBI too now, why don't you just go ask them?"

Hardison straightened up and began to laugh a little, "Yeah, that would work. Although I think McSweeten would probably talk more to Parker than me." Hardison frowned as he said the last bit, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Where the hell is Parker anyway?" Eliot said, handing Hardison a bottle of water.

"She'll show up. If not, Hardison has a tracker on her, doesn't he?" Sophie said, still going over the maps.

Before Hardison could respond the door to the room slammed open and Parker came bounding in, covered in dirt.

"I found the treasure!" she exclaimed, holding out her hands.

In one hand was a dirty handkerchief.

In the other were five tarnished silver coins.


	3. The Five Pieces Of Eight Job (3/3)

  
Eliot, Sophie and Hardison all stared at Parker, expressions of shock and disbelief on their faces.

Sophie's mouth was hanging open as she stepped forward and tried to grab Parker's hand. Parker glared at her briefly before handing over one of the coins. Sophie began to frantically clean it with her shirt.

Parker didn't notice. She began to pace around the room, gesturing wildly, sending dirt and leaves flying. To emphasize her points, she bounced.

"It was so cool! I was on the plantation tour and I couldn't decide if the other women there were hitting on me or just being nice and then I saw this hankie and I couldn't stop staring at it and staring at it and Sarah told me it was Jackie's hankie and that Grace used to be a boy and didn't know how to embroider and that's why the stitching was so crappy and then I realized that the stitching wasn't crappy at all, it was exactly perfect for showing the coastline and then I saw the 'X'! And! And! ARRRRR, MATEYS! I FOUND THE TREASURE!" Parker crowed jumping up and down.

Hardison beamed to see Parker so happy. Sophie reached out and gave her a hug, which Parker bounced through. Eliot just gaped.

"How?" Eliot asked, still staring.

"It's real." Sophie said, her voice breathless. "It's real silver and it says 'Ferdinand VII' and it has the Pillars of Hercules on the back that signify that the coin was minted in Mexico. Parker, how? Where's the rest of it?"

Parker smiled through the dirt, "Here! See! Look at the compass rose!" She carefully laid the handkerchief out on the table next to the survey maps, gently patting it out flat. She pointed to one of the flowers, "See! This one here! And the rest of the treasure is still in the ground. I knew I wouldn't be able to get it all out by myself so I came to get you guys!"

Eliot looked at the handkerchief and scowled, "I can't believe 'x' really marks the spot. It's been right in front of them all this time? And they never figured it out?"

Parker shrugged, "According to the displays in the room, women's artifacts are typically devalued and not given the attention they deserve. I don't think anyone ever really looked at it. And for the longest time, no one believed there was a treasure."

Sophie looked at her hands and down at herself and made a disgusted noise. "Parker, didn't anyone try to stop and ask you what you got into that you were so dirty?" She stalked off to the bathroom.

Hardison noticed that Parker's knuckles were scratched up, "What did you do to your hands, girl? I'm going to get the first aid kit."

As soon as Hardison mentioned Parker's hands Eliot was in her space, holding her hands up so he could examine them better. "What, you couldn't find a shovel to steal, so you just dug with your bare hands?" he growled, pulling her over to the bathroom. "Sophie, move. We need to clean Parker's hands. She's hurt herself."

"Oh, you poor thing. I'll make sure she gets her hands clean, you get the kit." Sophie started running water in the sink and Eliot ducked out of the washroom.

Parker pulled her hands out of Sophie's grasp, "I don't know why everyone's so worried. It's just a couple of scratches. And I did so steal a shovel! You think I can't steal a garden tool!" she shouted the last part out the bathroom door.

"Parker, dear." Sophie said, taking a deep breath. "We just… Well, this is the first time any of us has been hurt since… And I think we're just overreacting a little. That's all. We all know you are the best thief in the world. You even found the treasure today and people have been looking for it for almost two hundred years! That's stupendous!" Sophie giggled a little as the reality of the situation began to sink in.

She smiled at Parker and held her shoulders, "Oh, my god, Parker! You found it!" Parker smiled back and grasped Sophie's arms. The two women hopped a couple of times.

Eliot came back just in time to see them celebrating, "What the hell are you doing?"

Sophie grabbed the kit from his hands and opened it up. "We can use this, you know. Just think of what it will do to Rucks to get caught stealing the treasure off the Gatineau land."

"Hey! That's _my_ treasure you're talking about!" Parker yelled.

Eliot frowned at Parker before focusing his attention on Sophie. "That would work better than the original plan. And the publicity this could get would have people coming from all over. Hardison and I will hash out something preliminary. You get Parker's head back on straight. Well, straight-ish. Parker, you sure you're okay?" Eliot laid a hand on her shoulder.

Parker shrugged him off violently. "We aren't giving up _my_ pirate treasure, are we?"

Eliot rolled his eyes and left the bathroom.

Sophie gently picked up Parker's hand and began cleaning the scratches with an antiseptic wipe. "Parker, who are we here to help?"

Parker made a pouting face and nodded her head from side to side, "We're here to help the people of the Gatineau plantation."

"That's right," Sophie continued softly, switching to Parker's other hand. "And do you really need the money?"

"I always need money." Parker said sulkily, "I love getting money."

Sophie nodded in agreement, "Getting money is fun. I think we all know how much I have loved getting money in the past. But is it really the money? Or was it the hunt for the treasure that was the real fun?"

Parker scowled, "This isn't going to work, you know."

Sophie looked into Parker's eyes for a second and then sighed in disgust. "Well, fine then. I was going to try to be gentle about this, really I was. But, Parker. You don't get to keep the treasure and that's all there is to it."

Parker's bottom lip trembled and her eyes welled with tears. "Really?" she whispered softly.

"Yes, really!" Sophie said, throwing the wipe away. Sophie glanced at Parker and then her expression became suspicious. "Parker? Are you using those guilt techniques I was teaching you about last week?"

Parker looked up from under her eyelashes at Sophie, "Yes."

Sophie beamed, "Parker! That was excellent work! I almost bought it! But we're still giving the treasure to Lily Gatineau. Now take a shower and we'll put the finishing touches on the new plan. I'll get some clean clothes from your room."

*** *** ***

It was a few days later when William Rucks drove up to Eliot and Sophie's campsite a little before nine in the morning. Eliot had been up since dawn. Sophie had insisted on sleeping in, muttering something under her breath about feeding Eliot to something called 'Nyarlathotep' if he didn't stop bugging her. Eliot didn't know what that was, but he wasn't going to risk finding out just to get Sophie out of the tent.

"Mr. Rucks! Thank you for coming out all this way. Can I offer you a cup of coffee?" Eliot said. He was sitting by the fire, had a tin cup in one hand and was flipping bacon in a pan with the other.

Rucks sat down across from Eliot, "Coffee would be perfect. Where's your lovely wife?"

Eliot nodded toward the tent, "Sam's always been a night owl. She'll be up in an hour or so. We have finished up our surveys for your properties. I'm sorry but the treasure wasn't on any of them." Eliot poured another cup of coffee and handed it to Rucks.

"That's disappointing news. Will you and Samantha be leaving then?" Rucks asked.

Eliot shrugged, "There's one more spot we want to check out. It's not far from here, actually. We will just need to go get the land owner's permission to dig first."

Rucks' eyebrows shot up, "Really? Only one more place? It must be on the Gatineau land then. Lily Gatineau is the only other landowner in the area."

Eliot concentrated on Rucks. "We've heard things about Ms. Gatineau but we've haven't met her yet? What's she like?"

"Lily is quite the character." Rucks began, setting down his coffee cup and looking earnestly into Eliot's eyes. "To tell the truth, I don't think she'll let you dig. One word about the treasure and she's more likely to just go off after it herself. She'd cut you two out altogether."

"She can't do that!" Sophie said, popping her head out of the tent, looking disheveled. "We've worked hard on this project! She has no right to take all the credit!" Sophie came bursting out of the tent in her flannel pyjamas, outraged.

Eliot hopped up from his seat to soothe his 'wife', "Now, Sam, dear. We don't know yet if that's what this lady is going to do. You need to calm down."

Sophie cut Eliot off with a yell, "How do you know this won't be another repeat of the Bradley incident?"

"Samantha!" Eliot yelled back, "Mr. Rucks is here! We'll discuss this later. Okay?" Eliot ran his hand gently down Sophie's arm

Sophie put her head on Eliot's shoulder and leaned into him, "I just can't bear the thought of being so close… Especially after we found the coins…"

"Sam!" Eliot moaned despairingly, "We weren't going to mention those, remember?"

Sophie squeezed her eyes shut, "I am so sorry, darlin'"

Rucks stood up and walked toward the couple, stopping a few feet away. "Um, I couldn't help but over hear. Is there something you should be telling me?"

Eliot kissed the top of his wife's head. "Well, It's like this, Mr. Rucks…"

"Please, call me William," Rucks interrupted with a greedy smile.

"It's my fault," Sophie said, "I got carried away."

"Carried away by what?" Rucks asked.

Eliot nodded over toward a large magnolia tree about a hundred yards away. Rucks could see that the ground at the base of the tree was disturbed.

"That tree is on Gatineau land, you see…" Eliot began.

Rucks inhaled sharply, "You found it, didn't you?"

Sophie smiled softly, a mixture of embarrassment and pride on her face. "Yes, we did."

"Tell me everything." Rucks said, dollar signs lighting up his eyes.

*** *** ***

Rucks practically skipped into his office when he left Eliot and Sophie's camp site.

Everything was coming into place. He just needed to make a few arrangements.

"Bearings! Dick!" Rucks stopped as he listened to what Bearings was saying, "Richard, whatever. Who cares, after tonight, you can pay people to call you whatever the hell you want. Those archaeologists, the Morgans? They found it!"

Rucks smiled, anticipating his coconspirator's response.

"What do you mean 'found what?'? You imbecile! They found the treasure of "El Grito del Corsario'! It really exists!" Rucks yelled into the phone.

"Yes, it's real. They showed me some of the coins they found." Rucks said, calming down. "Now they went on and on about their professional ethics and the historical importance of the find. They are going to see Lily and ask her permission to dig tomorrow."

Rucks leaned forward on his desk, stabbing the top with his index finger, "Which means that we have to get out there and dig the damn thing up _tonight!_"

Rucks sighed exasperatedly, "No, they won't be there. They packed up their camp before I left. I convinced them that it would look better if they asked for permission to dig without being camped on Lily's doorstep. Less suspicious that way. They are so damn gullible. Anyway, I need you to get some shovels and a truck. We're going after that treasure."

Rucks ran his hand through his hair and sighed, "No. I don't care that it's supposed to storm tonight. It'll be the perfect cover for us. No one will see what we're doing. We'll dig everything up and have it on the dock, ready to fence before anyone knows what happened."

Rucks listened for a minute and then scoffed, "Of course, we're going to fence it! I need cash now and this is the quickest way to get it. If the Morgans or Lily Gatineau try to say anything to the press, they'll just end up looking like fools. There's no real evidence that that treasure exists in the first place. Now get off your sweaty behind and get the gear we need. I'll come to your place after sundown."

*** *** ***

In his hotel room, Hardison snickered as he finished listening to Rucks and Bearings' conversation.

"Eliot, Sophie," he said, "They are going to make their move tonight. Parker and I will go put the FBI on the trail now."

*** *** ***

Taggert and McSweeten were not hard to find. They were milling around the pool, Taggert in a Yankees jersey and Bermuda shorts. With socks and sandals. McSweeten was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and jogging shorts and it was all Hardison could do not to start laughing. "Awww! Your little sweetheart is cosplaying as Magnum! You must be so proud!" He said, gesturing toward the two men.

Parker just looked at him, confused.

"Never mind. Let's just do this before I melt." Hardison said, straightening his tie.

They were about ten feet away from the FBI men when McSweeten finally noticed Parker.

"Special Agent Hagan! Pleasure seeing you here!" McSweeten stammered, blushing slightly. "To what do we owe the honor? Would you like to sit down? Can I get you a drink?"

Parker smiled hesitantly and held up her hand, "Can't drink now, sorry. I'm on duty. Special Agent Thomas and I need your help."

McSweeten and Taggert both stood up straighter and tried to look professional. "Whatever you need, we're there for you." Taggert said, holding his hand out to shake Hardison's. "You two have been there for us in the past, we owe you."

"We knew we could count on you." Hardison said earnestly, pumping Taggert's hand. "We were surprised to see you guys here. Grateful, but surprised. What brings you to Galveston?"

"Mandatory vacation," Taggert said. "Our supervisor wanted us out of the office for at least two weeks. I think the poor guy is a little intimidated by our investigative skills. But we did need a break from all the hustle and bustle, you know?"

"Oh, we know about bustles, alright," Parker said, cutting in. "We need your help. My partner and I are here undercover on a case."

Hardison stepped forward and clapped McSweeten on the shoulder, forcing him to step away from Parker. "We can't tell you what we're working on. It's very hush-hush. You know how it is. But in the course of our investigation we came across something that we can't break cover to deal with, but we didn't want this guy to get away scott free. But now that we know you are here, we can rest easy, knowing that you two will catch this bastard for us."

Taggert and McSweeten swelled with pride.

"Whatever you need." McSweeten said, gazing at Parker.

"Well," Parker began, "There's this land developer, William Rucks."

*** *** ***

Lily Gatineau was tired. Bone tired. The day had largely consisted of; getting bitched at by the bank, who were worried that her income from poker tournaments was _unpredictable_, getting bitched at by her mother, who thought she should just sell to Rucks and move to Vegas, and then getting bitched at by the local sheriff's department for having crappy security, following the theft of a handkerchief from the Jackie and Grace room.

If one more thing went wrong today, _just one_. Be it a stubbed toe or a zit or kitchen being out of enchiladas, Lily promised herself she'd grab her granddaddy's shotgun off the wall and have herself a little rampage.

She kicked off her shoes and threw her purse onto her bed. The old-fashioned parchment envelope on her pillow slipped down to rest beside it.

_Envelope on my pillow? What the…_

Lily looked around, half expecting someone to pop out at her, opened the heavy vellum and began to read.

_To Lily Gatineau,  
It may be of some interest to you to know that the treasure of El Grito Del Corsario is real.  
And it has been found.  
We believe that tonight, William Rucks and Richard Bearings will attempt to remove the treasure from your land.  
Please find enclosed a map to the treasure's location.  
Our fondest regards,  
J&amp;G_

  
"Sweet tap dancing Christ," Lily whispered.

*** *** ***

The rain had started around six. A steady downpour, punctuated with flashes of light and concussive blasts of sound.

Bearings and Rucks were trying to dig up the treasure but the already disturbed soil and the heavy rain and turned the dig site into a quagmire. Every shovelful of muck they removed only made room for more water.

And the longer they dug, the more obsessive and deranged Rucks became, to the point that  
Bearings was spending a lot of time looking back and forth meaningfully at his shovel and the back of Rucks' head.

_spluthunk_

"What was that?" Bearings yelled over the storm. He tugged futilely at the suspenders of his hip waders. The damn things were worse than useless, just collecting water.

"What do you think it was, jackass!" Rucks yelled back. "We've finally found it!" Rucks threw his shovel aside and thrust his arms into the water. He struggled with whatever it was he was trying to lift, grunting in the effort, until his hands slipped. He tumbled back and lost his footing, landing in the water with a splash.

Bearings just planted his shovel in the increasingly unstable ground and waited for Rucks to get up on his own.

"This isn't going to work in this rain, you know," Bearings yelled. "We should come back in the morning with a pump. We can get it then!"

Rucks finally stood up and spat out a mouth full of water when the scene was illuminated with klieg lights.

Taggert, McSweeten, Galveston County Sheriff Dan Farnsworth, several of his deputies and Lily Gatineau, brandishing her grandfather's shotgun were silhouetted by the lights.

"Boys, you got a lot of explaining to do." Lily Gatineau said, a satisfied smirk on her face.

Bearings let his shovel drop with a splat and raised his hands high. "It was all _his_ idea!"

"Shut up! _Shut up!_ Dick, you moron!" Rucks screamed, throwing himself at Bearings. The two men went down in the mud, fighting like children.

"Never a dull moment around here, isn't it, Lily?" Sheriff Farnsworth asked, watching the two men.

*** *** ***

The team was back in Boston, having left Galveston after the arraignments of Rucks and Bearings.  
The four of them were sitting at their favorite table in McRory's, looking at the front page of the "Galveston County Daily News". The headline read "Pirate Treasure Found At Local Landmark"

Sophie smiled fondly at the picture, showing Lily Gatineau standing in the main entry way, her arm around Callie Reynolds. "They look so darling together. And the new Preservation Officer has fast-tracked the plantation's application. So it looks like Lily won't have much to worry about for a while."

"I can't believe Taggert and McSweeten got credit for our work _again_," Hardison moaned. He was reading the city section of the paper, detailing the key to the city ceremony that had been held for the two FBI agents.

"You don't mind when Bonanno gets credit for our work," Eliot said, reading over Sophie's shoulder.

Hardison glared over his paper at Eliot, "That's because Bonanno isn't an idiot. We keep this up, Taggert and McSweeten are going to be real life Inspector Clouseaus."

Sophie giggled a little, "I always liked those movies."

Parker held up her hand and flagged down a passing waitress. "Five Irish whiskeys," she ordered.

Eliot looked at her, "What's that for?"

"We did it. Kinda by the skin of our teeth, but we did it. We saved the plantation and saved the treasure," Parker's voice grew disbelieving, "and we gave almost all of it _back to the Gatineau_. We should have a toast. That's what people do, right? Toast when something goes right?"

Sophie smiled, "That's right, Parker. A toast would be lovely. But why whiskey? Shouldn't we be drinking champagne instead?"

Hardison frowned, "And what do you mean by 'almost all' of the treasure? We didn't keep any of it, did we?"

The waitress set down five shots of whiskey on the table and left.

Parker looked at the others, a satisfied and sneaky look on her face. "I kinda sorta keep the five coins I first found." She held out her hand and opened it to reveal the five pieces of eight. They had been polished up and gleamed softly in the light of the bar.

"I thought about giving them back. But I found them, and pirates aren't supposed to give anything back."

Parker pulled the glasses closer to her and dropped a coin in each one. "But the pirate code didn't say anything about deciding to share with your friends. Even the ones who aren't here. Or ones who are grumpy ninjas who never said anything piratey even once."

Sophie and Hardison smiled as they picked up their glasses.

Eliot slid his over closer, glaring suspiciously at the coin in the glass. "Oh, alright. Just this once, Parker. You hear me?" he said.

Eliot looked at Parker and smirked, holding his glass up, "Drink up, me hearties! Yo ho!"  



End file.
